It was a cold, February night in 2023. To be more specific, it was Ash Wednesday. I had just gotten back to my little Buckhead apartment from the ash service at the Cathedral of Christ the King. For some reason, I felt compelled to go on Bumble. That is when Devon's profile popped up on my screen and as you can conclude, I swiped right. We started talking immediately after that, and he asked me to dinner.

We met for the first time a couple of days later on February 26th at Eclipse de Luna. Conversation flowed and before you know it, we were talking about where we go to church. I had seen on his profile that he was Catholic and went to church in Buckhead. This was surprising because he lives in Suwanee (miles away from Buckhead). He told me that he went to Christ the King. I had to know why he was traveling all the way from Suwanee every Sunday for mass. He told me that when he first moved to Georgia, he looked up Catholic churches in Atlanta and the church he goes to popped up. If you know Devon, you also know that he is always early; going to mass was no exception. He would, and still does, show up to mass so early that he was asked to become an usher.

Once I heard this, I had to ask which church he went to. He told me Cathedral of Christ the King. I was happily surprised! I practically yelled, “I go there too! What time do you go?". He told me he ushers at the 10:30 mass. I was going to the noon mass, which explains why we never saw each other at church.

Minutes turned into hours, and we were still having a great time, so he asked me if I wanted to continue the night at another restaurant. Of course I did! He ordered us an Uber, and we went to Fado's Irish Pub. It was pretty empty, so we were able to talk, and I mean TALK!

At the end of the night, he asked me when he could see me again. I said, "Well, I am going to church tomorrow." He asked me if I would come to the 10:30 mass instead. I did. He took me to lunch after, and the rest is history!

First, let me provide you with some context. As many of you know, I am a UGA Alum, so I LOVE the Georgia Bulldogs. Devon, on the other hand, claims to be a Florida Gators fan because his high school mascot was a Florida Gator. For my 31st birthday, I thought it would be fun to go to the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville. This game typically falls on my birthday weekend every year.

The day before the game, Devon and I drove down to Jacksonville. When we arrived, Devon suggested we go somewhere nice for dinner. If you know me, you know I love to dress up, so I happily obliged. He made us a reservation at a nice seafood restaurant on the beach. Yes, I said seafood. If you know Devon, you know that is surprising because the man cannot stand seafood, but he also knows I love it!

The reservation was for 8 o’clock, so he suggested we go somewhere to get a cocktail. He drove us to a Restoration Hardware which had a gorgeous rooftop restaurant. We sat outside, and the sun slowly started to set. Our server came to take our order, and Devon asked her to take our picture. We stand up and walk into the center of the rooftop. I was going to continue walking, but Devon stopped me. I turn around, and he gets down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said, "YES!" We celebrated with some champagne, and we continued celebrating at dinner.